Banana Pudding Dessert Pizza

A homemade vanilla wafer pizza crust is topped with a banana pudding frosting, banana chips, fresh whipped cream, and a garnish of vanilla wafers in this Banana Pudding Dessert Pizza...

Some of you all may remember the little trip to Birmingham, Alabama I took back in March to tour the Southern Living headquarters and to indulge in some delicious authentic southern food.  That quick southern getaway happened to be sponsored by the good folks at Delta Faucet. 

During our short visit to Birmingham, we visited an amazing southern soul food restaurant called Saw's Juke Joint for dinner. Folks, we were spoiled. From deep fried okra to delicious smoked wings to BBQ pulled pork with all the fixings, we were really treated to a full taste of southern cuisine. But I am pretty sure my favorite part of that entire meal was how it ended- with an amazing deconstructed banana pudding. ;) 

We were served a platter with small bowls filled with homemade banana pudding, banana slices, vanilla wafers, and fresh whipped cream. From there, we could construct our individual banana puddings as we wished. Some of us bloggers created little works of culinary art and showed off our food styling skills. And some of us just layered everything together and dug in! (Ahem... guilty of that here.)

And that dreamy deconstructed banana pudding provided the inspiration for the tasty twist on a classic southern dessert that I am sharing with you all today- a Banana Pudding Dessert Pizza! A homemade vanilla wafer pizza crust is topped with a banana pudding frosting, banana chips, fresh whipped cream, and a garnish of vanilla wafers... 

Hoppin' John Dip

A big thank you to Hamilton Beach for providing me with their Stack and Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor and helping me bring you all this delicious recipe for a Hoppin' John Dip perfect for serving at your New Year's Eve get-together...

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Anyone else just a little superstitious when it comes to what you eat on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? Growing up, I remember my mother making pork chops and sauerkraut every New Year's Day (and she still does). 

I am not sure really when or why my mama started this tradition of pork and sauerkraut for New Year's dinner, but it originally started as a German & Pennsylvania Dutch custom. Eating both together brings good luck for the New Year. 

And even though I was not a fan of sauerkraut at all, I sucked it up and took ONE bite with my pork chops each year. I mean, I wasn't going to risk an entire year of bad luck over some silly sauerkraut. ;)

Looking for a more tasty and just as good fortune inducing dish to replace my mother's traditional pork chops and sauerkraut, I came across the classic southern dish of Hoppin' John. Hoppin' John is basically pork, greens, onions, and black-eyed peas all cooked together and then served over rice. 

The peas represent coins and wealth, & the greens represent paper money. It was thought that to eat "poor" on New Year's would be bring wealth the rest of the year. 

Hoppin' John is a dish that is usually served on New Year's Eve, not on New Year's Day. Since I typically only serve appetizers and nibbles for my New Year's Eve get-togethers, I decided to transform this delicious southern dish into a dip perfect for serving at a party or small gathering.

This Hoppin' John Dip starts out the same way as the traditional southern main dish, but then everything is put into a food processor and pureed together to make a tasty hummus-like dip...